Monday, October 15, 2007

DUBAI(ANI): Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has moved back into the top 10 of the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings for One-Day International (ODI) batsmen. In the latest rankings issued on Monday, Sachin moved up three places to sit at joint 9th, alongside Chris Gayle of the West Indies.

He is the only Indian batsman in the top 10. Vice-captain Yuvraj Singh is at 15th place, while captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni occupies the 16th position.

On the debit side of the ledger, however, former captain Rahul Dravid has slipped seven places and is now lies in 22nd place. India's highest-placed bowler in the relevant table is Harbhajan Singh, down in 29th position.

Australia's Andrew Symonds is within touching distance of top spot in the ODI batsmen rankings.

The powerful right-hander, who bludgeoned a brutal 107 from just 88 balls against India in Nagpur on Sunday, has rocketed up six spots to second place and is now just eight rating points behind his captain and team-mate Ricky Ponting.

That rise is a reflection of his outstanding form during the ongoing series as he is the leading run-scorer from either side with 365 runs at an average of 91.25 and a strike-rate of 110.94 runs per hundred balls.

Symonds, who has reached a career-high tally of rating points, forms an impressive Australian 1-2-3 at the top of the batting table, behind Ponting but ahead of Matthew Hayden, the winner of the ODI Player of the Year award at the ICC Awards in September and the second highest run-getter in the current series.

Three other Australians are in the top 11 - Michael Hussey (5th), Michael Clarke (8th) and Adam Gilchrist (11th).

The news is just as good for Ponting's men in the bowling list with left-arm wrist spinner Brad Hogg breaking into the top 10 on the back of being joint leading wicket-taker (alongside team-mate Mitchell Johnson) in the India series with 11 victims.

Hogg is one of three Australia bowlers in that top 10 with Nathan Bracken (3rd) and Brett Lee (9th) also featuring.